Instant Coffee Versus Espresso

Can instant coffee and instant espresso be used interchangeably in recipes?

Many recipes call for instant coffee or the more concentrated instant espresso to be added to chocolate desserts; besides lending coffee flavor, these products help to accentuate chocolate flavor. Instant coffee is made by freeze-drying liquid brewed coffee, while instant espresso is typically just dark-roasted coffee beans that are very finely ground.

We made batches of mocha icing, devil’s food cupcakes, and tiramisù with equal amounts of each product to see how they compared. Even the most discerning tasters didn’t notice a difference between the two in the tiramisù, but a few tasters did think the cupcakes made with the instant espresso were slightly more “rich and chocolaty” than those made with the instant coffee; the coffee version, however, was perfectly acceptable. The major disparity between the two showed up in the mocha icing—the one preparation we tested that relied on the instant products for pronounced coffee flavor. The instant coffee version was flat and bitter, but the espresso icing had a rich, “deep, roasted” coffee flavor. We found that you can use either instant coffee or instant espresso to bring out chocolate flavor in desserts, but when a recipe requires a pronounced coffee flavor, stick to the instant espresso.